“Unhappiness” rises in the administration of US President Donald Trump, says a senior White House official as pressure mounts on the new commander-in-chief to dismiss his national security adviser over his contact with Russia.
“The knives are out,” a senior administration official said."There’s a lot of unhappiness about this.”
US National Security Adviser Michael Flynn reportedly had secret discussions with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about sanctions the outgoing administration of President Barack Obama imposed on Moscow late last year.
According to the reports that emerged last week, the two secretly held a series of phone calls the month before Trump’s grip on power.
“Kislyak (pictured above) was left with the impression that the sanctions would be revisited at a later time,” a US officials told The Washington Post February 9.
Flynn, had earlier rejected such claims and was backed by Vice President Mike Pence, who said the calls “had nothing whatsoever to do with those sanctions."
The development made a Flynn spokesman walk back his earlier denial, saying that while Flynn "had no recollection of discussing sanctions, he couldn’t be certain that the topic never came up.”
Trump’s policy adviser, Stephen Miller, also refused Monday to assure reporters that the president still trusts Flynn, asserting that such a matter should be addressed by the president himself.
Meanwhile, bipartisan pressure was mounting on Trump to fire Flynn in the wake of the new revelations.
“It would be very difficult for me to continue to rely on someone in such a vital position [if Flynn] had not been truthful,” Republican Senator Susan Collins said of the retired US Army general, calling the contact “inappropriate and troubling.”
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi also released a statement, warning Trump that the conversations show Flynn may put Russian President Vladimir Putin “before America.”
“Michael Flynn’s conduct was alarming enough before his secret communications with the Russians were exposed,” said the Democrat. “Now, we have a National Security Adviser who cannot be trusted to put Putin before America. National security demands that General Flynn be fired immediately."
Pelosi tapped into earlier allegations that Trump himself has ties with Putin, referencing the two men’s proclivity for a thaw in Washington-Moscow ties.
“The reports of the Trump-Russia dossier gain credence with each passing day. As long as Republicans refuse to compel the release of President Trump’s tax returns, they are complicit in covering up Russia’s financial, personal and political hold on the Administration," Pelosi said. “This administration has exhausted its excuses. Vladimir Putin’s grip on President Trump must be investigated, exposed and broken. National security demands that General Flynn be fired immediately.”
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